Starting my journey

dollybeads

Hey Choogirl

You are so busy, good for you on putting the bargains back on the rail and glad to hear you were able to treat yourself to something nice. I know what you mean with the spending elves, I sometimes just get the urge to splurge on something expensive, for no real reason, it really does make you wonder what that is all about!!

Glad to hear the smalls were fooled into eating the meatballs, I still put grated vegetables in stews, bolognese, chilli etc and now also use a few red lentils, these are v good for everyone, and make things go further. Yay to that!

Have a good weekend and try to give yourself a little me time at some point if that is possible!

Dolly x

choogirl

little_h wrote: »

hi choogirl, what a busy week! but glad you have been able to get yourself something lovely, and so great that you were able to remain in control despite being confronted by lovely things.

I still go in DPs on a regular basis, and Topshop and all the others. I occasionally find nice stuff in there but most of the time my best success rate is in Oasis I have a long held store card there, always pay it off in full, but it is good for getting discounts and offers from time to time. I wondered about cutting it up but am pretty disciplined with it as I know the rate is so high on it, plus the credit limit is very low compared to my other cards.

I failed miserably last week so will be trying to think of a new approach as I so love going shopping, even if it is just to look. Once I start buying, it's difficult to stop so think I may just resort to cash/debit card and leave credit card at home :mad:

I have star drops too - they are great on my kitchen floor, but you do get quite a lot of foam and I find the smell is quite strong, you really don't need much

hope you can get a bit of feet up time over the weekend

Hi little_h

It was really hard to stay in control but I've proved to myself it can be done even though it was a challenge!

When I had my LBM I decided that all cards had to go, as I used to have a Monsoon and Oasis card. I paid them off in full every month but to resist the temptation I just got rid of everything. I agree that the special offers and discounts are a bonus but the temptation had to be removed.

I now have a set allowance of £20 for the month and I try and save it up for a few months so I can treat myself to something really nice rather than just a couple of £5 tat items each month, I appreciate the purchasing much more now and if theres a sale on in a shop I'll get even more for my money :j

I think I went OTT with the stardrops as I did get alot of foam, not much is needed.

Have a great weekend xx

choogirl

mummytogirls wrote: »

Morning choogirl, wow you were busy yesterday!! I really like DP's for clothes and they arent badly priced IMO! Woohoo to refusing the storecard :T. Sounds like you did very well with your bargain hunting.

Haha to the kids eating the bolognaise but not the meatballs. They are funny little things arent they!!

Hope you have a great night out x x

Hi mummytogirls

I like Dotty Ps as well they aren't badly priced and are trendy but not overly trendy. I wouldn't like to look to be mutton dressed as lamb :rotfl:

Yes kids are funny things xxx

Have a great weekend xx

choogirl

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

Morning choo, i'm 30+ and still love dotty p's, buy a lot of my work clothes from there.

Hi Pennywise,

I have just rediscovered Dotty Ps, the clothes are nice, not too pricey and not over trendy. I used to like Next but I think alot of their clothes now just look like dishcloths!

I love Monsoon but Oasis has crept into the lead as they also have really nice clothes that aren't over trendy but the clothing allowance needs to be saved before I can have a splurge in those shops.

Have a great weekend xx

choogirl

dollybeads wrote: »

Hey Choogirl

You are so busy, good for you on putting the bargains back on the rail and glad to hear you were able to treat yourself to something nice. I know what you mean with the spending elves, I sometimes just get the urge to splurge on something expensive, for no real reason, it really does make you wonder what that is all about!!

Glad to hear the smalls were fooled into eating the meatballs, I still put grated vegetables in stews, bolognese, chilli etc and now also use a few red lentils, these are v good for everyone, and make things go further. Yay to that!

Have a good weekend and try to give yourself a little me time at some point if that is possible!

Dolly x

Hi Dolly

Thanks for popping by. The spending gremlins were certainly on a mission on Friday but thankfully they were controlled. I never really used to get the urge to buy expensive items it just always seemed to be the low spends of £5, £10, £20, £30 that just add up over the months.

Kids are strange creatures, I still can't work them out and thats what makes life interesting!

Have a great weekend xx

choogirl

Good Morning

Its a wet, grey day here so no washing will be going out today

I've just been having a think about my past spending habbits and I think alot of it stems from the following

1) Boredom - no chance of that now as too busy
2) Buying lots of low cost clothing items especially for the children - finally realised that they don't need loads of clothes as they grow so quickly.
3) Always thinking it can be paid off at a later date - control has been taken back now and everything is alot tidier.
4) Always wanting to outdo someone else - it no longer matters to me that I'm not having a fancier holiday etc than x person

The last 6 months have been such a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts but in a strange, sick way its what I've needed. Its made me focus and take back control of our finances I dread to think the mess that we could have landed ourselves in if the LBM hadn't happened. Anyway I will not be going back to that dark, horrible place light nights and the promise of summer are around the corner.

Right too much thinking going on back there, this morning is going to be spent updating the finances spreadsheets.

We fancy going out somewhere this afternoon but needs to be MSE and then later I'm going to do some baking. I've just rediscovered my passion for baking, it really relaxes me and its cheap :T

Have a great Sunday xx

pennywisepoundstupid

I know what you mean choo, i now feel smug about getting a bargain and i now wonder how much debt others have when i see a new car in the drive or they are redecorating again.

Have fun baking, i love it find it really theraputic (sp).

choogirl

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

I know what you mean choo, i now feel smug about getting a bargain and i now wonder how much debt others have when i see a new car in the drive or they are redecorating again.

Have fun baking, i love it find it really theraputic (sp).

Hi Pennywise

I did have fun baking, I love it but unfortunately it isn't too good for the waistline.

I often wonder how much debt other people have that I know who have fancy cars, holidays, extensions etc.

choogirl

Good Evening

Its been a lovely sunny and even warm day here, I love it. Everything looks so much nicer in the sun apart from my windows :rotfl:

Another day and another set of calculations and spreadsheets. I just hope the boss never spots what I'm doing when I'm supposedly working.

Just trying to work out if I can realistically shave 3 months off the DFD.
I've done very rough calculations and its looking good so far. We're putting about £550 a month away at the moment for all the bills that will become due over the year until December but my calculations are telling me that we hopefully won't be spending all that so I could divert some to the debt repayments :T

I think I will continue to be cautious for a few more months and continue to save the money and then reassess the situation. Once the HSBC card is paid off at the end of the month I will be hammering away at the Barclaycard balance which is also all on 0% so no interest to worry about until next March and hopefully it will be gone by then anyway.

This lovely warm weather is making me think about holidays but sadly thats off the radar this year, I would sooner hammer away at the balances.
When we're debt free we can have a lovely holiday, at the moment I'm fancying a dual centre - California and Hawai. I've been to the USA a few times but not yet made it to the West Coast so thats my dream destination. I might just pop to the travel agents tomorrow and pick up a brochure, tear out some pictures and leave them where I can remind myself why I need to pay this balance off.

One can dream and save for it :j

choogirl

Morning

I think the spending gremlins may be about to raise their fat, ugly heads again at lunchtime Oasix have got a mid season sale on :eek:

I still have my voucher but just had a quick look on the website and there are so many lovely things. I might go and have a look for a new top but must resist everything else. Its going to be so hard, all I can think about at the moment is going in there and spending money! Will the shopaholic streak never disappear, or will it just subside over time?